Millicent Fawcett statue approved

Tuesday 18 July 2017

Millicent Fawcett will be the first woman honoured with a statue in parliament square, and will stand with other famous figures such as Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela.The statue will show Fawcett at the age of 50 when she became president of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, which campaigned for extending the vote for women.

As a suffragist rather than a suffragette, Fawcett campaigned using peaceful tactics. The 1918 Act gave most men the vote for the first time, but only enfranchised women over 30 who owned property. Full electoral equality was not introduced until 1928, the year before Fawcett died. Her name lives on in The Fawcett Society, which campaigns for women’s rights.